How to Generate an Instagram Access Token

Last verified against Meta's Instagram Platform documentation in 2026, after the Instagram Basic Display API end-of-life (December 4, 2024).

Divi Instagram Feed connects to Instagram using an access token that you generate in your own Meta developer app and paste into the plugin. When you click Connect Account in Divi Instagram Feed → Accounts, you'll be asked for two things:

1. Access Token — generated in your own Meta app using the steps below
2. Account Type — Creator (Instagram Login) or Business (Facebook Page)

Pick the track that matches your account.

Why you generate your own token (no third-party app)

Divi Instagram Feed is deliberately designed so that you create your own private Meta app and generate your own token. Your Instagram account is never connected to DiviPeople or any shared third-party application, and your data never passes through our servers.

What this means for you:

• Privacy & ownership — the app is yours, the token is yours, the connection is strictly between your WordPress site and your Instagram account.
• No vendor lock-in — you can revoke or regenerate the token in your own Meta dashboard at any time, independent of the plugin.
• No Meta App Review required — because the app accesses only your own account (you are the app owner / a person with a role on the app), it can stay in Development mode. Meta App Review and Advanced Access are only needed when an app serves other people's accounts — which this model intentionally avoids.

The trade-off is a one-time setup: you'll spend ~10 minutes creating the app and generating the token. This guide covers every step in depth.

Before you start: Personal Instagram accounts are not supported. Your account must be a Professional account — Creator or Business. To switch: Instagram app → Settings → Account type and tools → Switch to professional account. Creator is enough and does not require a Facebook Page.

Which track should I use?

Your situation	Use this track	Account Type to select
Creator account, no Facebook Page	Track A — Creator / Instagram Login	Creator (Instagram Login)
Business account, no Facebook Page	Track A — Creator / Instagram Login	Creator (Instagram Login)
Business account linked to a Facebook Page	Track B — Business	Business (Facebook Page)

Track A is the simplest and works for most people (Creator and Business accounts that aren't tied to a Facebook Page). Only use Track B if your Instagram is a Business account managed through a Facebook Page.

Track A — Creator account token

This uses Meta's Instagram API with Instagram Login. No Facebook Page needed.

Step 1 — Create a Meta developer account

1. Go to https://developers.facebook.com/ and click Get Started (top-right). Log in with any Facebook account.
2. Complete the short developer registration (verify email/phone if prompted) and accept the policies. You do not need a Facebook Page or Business verification for this track.

Step 2 — Create a Meta app

Go to https://developers.facebook.com/apps → click Create App. Meta walks you through a 5-step wizard (shown in the left sidebar). Here is exactly what to do at each step:

App details

• App name: anything for your own reference, e.g. My Site Instagram Feed.
• App contact email: your email address.
• Click Next.

Use cases

• From the list, select "Manage messaging & content on Instagram" (icon: Instagram; description mentions the Instagram API).
• The name sounds messaging-focused, but this is the Instagram API use case — it's what provisions API setup with Instagram login and the instagram_business_basic permission needed to display your feed. You will not use the messaging/publishing features, and they require no action.
• Do not select Facebook Login, Marketing API, Threads, oEmbed, or Pages use cases.
• (Alternative: "Create an app without a use case" also works, but then you must manually add the Instagram product later via the Dashboard. The use case above is the cleaner path.)
• If a follow-up app type prompt appears, choose Business.
• Click Next.

Business

• This asks you to connect a Meta Business portfolio.
• Choose "I don't want to connect a business portfolio yet" (or skip). Connecting a verified business is only required to publish an app for other people to use — this self-token model only ever accesses your own account, so it stays in Development mode and never needs publishing or business verification.
• Click Next.

Requirements

• This is an informational screen listing what would be required to take the app live (business verification, App Review, etc.). You don't need to act on any of it for personal/own-account use.
• Click Next.

Overview

• Review the summary, then click Create app (re-enter your Facebook password if prompted).
• You land on the app Dashboard.

Leave the app in Development mode. Because it will only ever access your own Instagram account, it never needs to be switched to Live or submitted for Meta App Review.

Step 3 — Open "API setup with Instagram login"

Because you selected the Instagram use case in Step 2, the Instagram product is already added — you do not need to "Add product" manually.

1. In the left menu open Instagram → API setup with Instagram login.
2. You'll see three numbered sections; you'll use 1. Generate access tokens.

If you instead chose "Create an app without a use case," add it now: Dashboard → Add products to your app → Instagram → Set up, then return here.

Step 4 — Add the Instagram account as an Instagram Tester

The Instagram account whose feed you want to display must be added to your app with the Instagram Tester role before you can generate a token for it.

1. In the left sidebar, open App roles → Roles.
2. Click the Add People button (top-right).
3. In the Add people to your app dialog, scroll to Additional roles for this app and select Instagram Tester. (Meta's text here still says "required by the Instagram Basic Display API" — that label is outdated; it's the same tester-role mechanism the current Instagram API uses. Ignore the wording.)
4. In the search box at the bottom, type the Instagram username whose feed you want to show (e.g. solstice.ai), select it, and click Add.
5. The account now shows under Instagram Testers with status Pending.

Then accept the invite from the Instagram side (required):

6. From that Instagram account  → Website permissions → Apps and websites → Tester invitations, then Accept.
7. Accept the invitation from your app. The status in the app's Roles tab changes to Active.

Requirements (token generation will silently fail otherwise):

• Professional account only. Personal accounts can't be added — Instagram will prompt conversion (Instagram app → Settings → Account type and tools → Switch to professional account → Creator). Creator does not require a Facebook Page.
• The account must be public. Tokens are only issued for public profiles (Instagram app → Settings → Account privacy).

Step 5 — Generate the access token

Once the account shows as an Active Instagram Tester, go back to Instagram → API setup with Instagram login → 1. Generate access tokens and click Add account (log in with that Instagram account if prompted — it will now succeed). Then:

1. Next to your connected username, click Generate token.
2. Confirm in the popup. A long token string is displayed.
3. Click the copy icon and save it somewhere safe immediately — Meta shows the full token only once.

This is a long-lived token (valid ~60 days). Divi Instagram Feed refreshes it automatically before it expires, so you normally generate it only once.

Optional — manual short→long-lived exchange. If a tool gave you a short-lived token (valid 1 hour), find your App secret under App settings → Basic (click Show), then call:

GET https://graph.instagram.com/access_token
    ?grant_type=ig_exchange_token
    &client_secret=YOUR_INSTAGRAM_APP_SECRET
    &access_token=YOUR_SHORT_LIVED_TOKEN

Open that URL in a browser; the JSON response's access_token is the long-lived token (60 days, refreshable after 24 hours).

Step 6 — Add the token to the Divi Instagram Feed dashboard

1. In WordPress admin, open Divi Instagram Feed → Accounts.
2. Read the notice confirming a Professional account is required.
3. Click the Connect Account button (top-right of the Accounts card).
4. In the dialog that opens:
   • Access Token: paste the long token string from Step 5 (no spaces, no quotes).
   • Account Type: select Creator (Instagram Login).
5. Click Connect / Submit.
6. The plugin validates the token against Instagram and, on success, shows your account in the Connected Accounts list with its username and profile picture.
7. Edit any page → add the Instagram Feed module → in Source, choose this account.

To rotate or revoke later: click Remove on the account here, regenerate or delete the token in your Meta App Dashboard, then reconnect.

Track B — Business account token (with a Facebook Page)

Use this only if your Instagram is a Business account connected to a Facebook Page. This uses the Instagram Graph API via Facebook Login.

Step 1 — Confirm the connection

1. The Instagram account must be set to Business.
2. It must be linked to a Facebook Page (Instagram app → Settings → Account type and tools → Sharing to other apps / link from the Facebook Page's settings).

Step 2 — Create a Meta app

1. Go to https://developers.facebook.com/apps → Create App.
2. Choose app type Business, name it, and create it.

Step 3 — Get a User token via Graph API Explorer

1. Open https://developers.facebook.com/tools/explorer.
2. Top-right, select your app under Meta App.
3. Click Generate Access Token and log in with the Facebook account that manages the Page.
4. When prompted for permissions, grant:
   • instagram_basic
   • pages_show_list
   • pages_read_engagement
5. Approve the Page that's linked to your Instagram Business account.
6. Copy the generated User access token.

Step 4 — Convert to a long-lived token

Short tokens from the Explorer expire in ~1 hour. Exchange for a ~60-day token:

GET https://graph.facebook.com/v25.0/oauth/access_token
    ?grant_type=fb_exchange_token
    &client_id=YOUR_APP_ID
    &client_secret=YOUR_APP_SECRET
    &fb_exchange_token=YOUR_SHORT_LIVED_TOKEN

(You can also use the Access Token Tool at developers.facebook.com/tools/accesstoken to get the long-lived token without building the URL.)

Copy the resulting long-lived access_token.

Step 5 — Add the token to the Divi Instagram Feed dashboard

1. WordPress admin → Divi Instagram Feed → Accounts.
2. Click Connect Account (top-right of the Accounts card).
3. In the dialog:
   • Access Token: paste the long-lived token from Step 4.
   • Account Type: select Business (Facebook Page).
4. Click Connect / Submit. The plugin calls the Instagram Graph API, resolves the Instagram Business account linked to your Facebook Page automatically, and adds it to the Connected Accounts list.
5. Add the Instagram Feed module to a page and pick this account under Source.

To rotate or revoke later: Remove the account here, then regenerate/invalidate the token in your Meta app, and reconnect.

After connecting

• Token refresh is automatic (~every 30 days via WordPress cron) for the Creator/Personal track, well within the 60-day window. On very low-traffic sites, ensure WP-Cron runs (or wire a real system cron to wp-cron.php).
• Multiple accounts can be connected; each module picks one.
• To rotate or revoke: click Remove on the account in the plugin, delete/regenerate the token in the Meta App Dashboard, and reconnect.

Troubleshooting token issues

Problem	Cause / fix
"Connect" fails immediately	Account is still personal. Switch to Professional and regenerate.
"Add account" won't add it / no token can be generated	The Instagram account is private. Tokens generate only for public accounts — set the profile to public and retry.
Can't log in during "Add account"	Use the app's App roles → Roles tab to add the account with the Instagram tester role, then accept the tester invite from the Instagram account.
Token works then dies after ~1 hour	You pasted a short-lived token — do the long-lived exchange (Step 4 of either track).
Token dies after ~60 days	Not refreshed (WP-Cron not firing). Reconnect and set up a real system cron.
Business track: no Page listed in Explorer	Instagram isn't linked to a Facebook Page, or the account isn't Business. Fix the link first.
"Invalid platform app" / permission errors	Wrong Account Type selected for the token, or missing scopes. Match the track to the type.

Sources

• Instagram Platform — Get started (Instagram API with Instagram Login) — Meta
• Access Token reference — Meta
• Instagram Platform Changelog — Meta